On Wednesday I was at NCVO in London for the second of a series of meetings about how NCVO could work more effectively with voluntary and community sector infrastructure organisations. It now looks as if there are more than 1000 infrastructure organisations within NCVO’s membership – including national, regional, generic, specialist and functionalist infrastructure. As we continue to develop ideas about how NCVO could better connect with such organisations within its membership, we were keen to emphasise that any approach must be based on mutuality and reciprocity – not just looking paternalistically at how NCVO can benefit from developing better relationships, but rather at how the relevant organisations can work in partnership towards shared goals.